Bringing ‘Rockjazz’ To The Fore: Eric Lewis a.k.a Elew

‘Rockjazz’ pianist 36-year-old Eric Lewis a.k.a Elew played at TED Long Beach, California, in February this year to an audience that was impressed enough to give him a standing ovation. Elew’s style is difficult to describe. He studied piano as a child and later at the Manhattan School of Music. He then played for the Lincoln Center Jazz Troupe and toured with jazz greats Wynton Marsalis and Cassandra Wilson before breaking off to go it on his own. His individual style – he often stands when he plays, reaches into the piano to pull its strings and contorts his face as he, presumably, conjures up images of shock, awe and even horror in his head – translate beautifully into his music. (As an aside, Elew loves horror films and has also scored the music for one).

Featured by the New York Times in 2005 and covered by NPR and the Guardian earlier this year, Elew’s talent has to be seen live to be believed as he steadily refuses to be boxed into any one category – is it rock, jazz, blues, pop? We watched him perform a couple of days ago at the Bush Hall in London. Although he has already attracted a fair amount of criticism for his work, which includes his own takes on Evanescence’s ‘Going Under’, Coldplay’s ‘Clocks’, and alternative rock band Breaking Benjamin’s ‘The Diary of Jane’ as well as original compositions, clearly he is a force to be reckoned with.

Elew plays at the Jazz Cafe in London on Friday and Saturday, and at TED Global in Oxford, UK on July 22nd.